The tales of The Silmarillion were the underlying inspiration and source of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing: he worked on the book throughout his life, but never brought it to a final form. Long preceding in its origins The Lord of the Ring, it is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's world, the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the Ring look back, and in which some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part.